1. Field of Invention
The present application is directed towards systems and method for simulating the evaporation of a droplet with a moving contact line.
2. Description of the Related Art
Applying inkjet technology to the industrial printing process can greatly improve its efficiency. Inkjet technology can be used to save energy, material, money, and it can also help improve the environment. Inkjet technology may be used in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCD), thin film transistors (TFT), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), solar cells, micro-circuits, and other planar, layered, or 3-D structures. In the inkjet printing process, small droplets of a solution containing a solute with the desired properties and a solvent to make the solution jettable are deposited onto the target area. After the droplets reach the targeted area, the solvent evaporates and only the solute is left to form a final print pattern. The final pattern of the deposited solute directly determines the quality of the desired product.
In order to improve the quality of the final product, it is desirable to understand how the final pattern is formed in a realistic environment, what are the major factors affecting the final pattern, and how to control the production parameters in order to achieve a final product with the desired quality. In the final stage of ink drying process, the aspect ratio of length to height becomes quite large. Consequently, it is difficult to use traditional direct simulation methods to simulate the entire process. Lubrication equations may be applied to describe such phenomenon; however in the prior art lubrication type equations have been limited to periodic thin films, infinite thin films or films with fixed contact lines. This is because a moving contact used along with lubrication type equations produces a singularity at the contact line.
What has not been developed are systems and methods for modeling and predicating the evaporation of a droplet with a moving contact line. The present invention is directed towards addressing these problems.